- On Wednesday, the Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC) Limited increased the price of petrol across its retail outlets.
The Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) has warned that the recent petrol price hike will exacerbate poverty as the nation’s production capacities continue to decline.
The union said that this increase will lead to widespread job losses and far-reaching negative consequences, prompting their demand for an immediate reversal.
In a statement titled “What next after increase in pump price?”, NLC President, Mr. Joe Ajaero, expressed the organization’s stance on Wednesday in Abuja.
Past price increases have yielded no positive outcomes, only deepening poverty among Nigerians, according to Ajaero.
The labour leader criticized the latest price hike, citing the lack of corresponding measures to mitigate its impact on Nigerians.
“Even following the logic of market forces, we find it an aberration that a private company (NNPCL) is the one fixing prices and projecting itself as a hegemonic monopoly.”
“We challenge the government to go to the drawing board and present us with a blueprint for an inclusive economic growth and national development instead of this spasmodic ad hocism and palliative policy.”
“It needs no stating the fact that the latest wave of increase has grossly altered the calculations of Nigerians once again at a time they were reluctantly coming to terms with their new realities,” Ajaero said.
The Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL) recently raised the petrol pump price by 14.8% to N1,030 per liter, up from N897, across its FCT retail outlets.
In September, NNPCL had previously increased the price from N615 to N897.